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It isn't very often I get a chance to spend time in Bucharest. Until last weekend I had only stayed the night there once for a medical appointment, the rest of my time in Bucharest has mostly been spent waiting for trains at the gara or riding a bus out to Ikea for some fantastic meatballs. It wasn't until Last weekend that I found myself in Bucharest with a little bit of time on my hands. The results were well, interesting.
Okay, I wasn't just going down to the capital city for no reason. I made plans to Volunteer with and organization called Ovidiu Rom. Ovidiu Rom was set up by Ethan Hawke's mother (a former volunteer) to help get impoverished children into Kindergarden and then keep them in school. It is a worth while cause as I have seen myself the difficulties in convincing not only young children, but older ones as well that school is really in their best interest.
As a special fundraising event Ovidiu Rom puts on a Halloween Ball. This was the 6th such event and it was held at the Parlimentary Palace. Needless to say the chance to spend a large amount of time in a beautiful place like that was hard to pass up. I had originally planned on spending thursday through sunday helping but was told I would only be needed Friday and Saturday. So, thursday night my friend and I got on an overnight train to bucharest, passed out, and woke up to a delicious Big Mac Meal. After spending a few hours at the Peace Corps office we had plenty of time to kill before the volunteer meeting at the palace at 7pm. After finding our hostel (not without some difficulty and by means not condusive to expediency) we sat at a terasa and thought of what we could possibly due for a day in Bucharest... of course the answer came quickly with the sound of screeching brakes... Ride random buses.
The bus system is as such that there is little need for a ticket. I would say only one out of every 20 rides will there be a "controller" on the bus to make sure you have one. It is an accepted practice to skip out on such frivolities as a ticket... However since our experience in Timisoara proved that controlers do exist we bought tickets anyway and rode the bus til we saw something familiar. Got off, and got on another bus that took us out to the Arc de Triumph ala Bucharest. Something I had only seen from buses and taxis before that day. The Results of this trip may be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/11082036755
There are a few things you tend to notice when riding around on a bus... one of which is that personal space is of no concern to the person next to you. The other is that there is ALWAYS more room on the bus even if you have to stand with one leg propped up against the window. The third is that, brakeing, is always the last resort for the driver, even at red lights.
The day was great. The park was beautiful and the volunteer meeting went off without a hitch. At one O'clock the next day We showed up to continue our volunteering and were put to work pretty quickly. Anytime something needed to be carried we were shown the way to help them. I guess we looked like guys who could carry things. Then, we were given our own special assignment... watch the wine. Yes make sure no one steals the wine before the guests show up... When the guests did start to show up it turned out we had the best seats in the house. Standing at a table exhibiting the door prizes. We saw celebrities, and rich people, and dignitaries, and Elvis, yes Elvis, and our boss, our ambassador, the Canadian Ambassador and of course Nicholas Cage, the guest of honor.
Nicholas Cage is in Romania shooting the Sequal to Ghost Rider, why they would make another one I have no idea, however there he was right there in real life with Jet black hair holding his son, sprinting by the press. Quite a sight to see, especially with a fellow peace corps volunteer trying to push the press out of the way. All in all the event raised 500,000 Euros to help put kids in school. For more information about that night check this out: http://www.bucharestherald.ro/dailyeven
or here: http://www.halloween.ovid.ro/
Hopefully later this week I will have another post for you. Stay Tuned... Space Ghost Out!
Okay, I wasn't just going down to the capital city for no reason. I made plans to Volunteer with and organization called Ovidiu Rom. Ovidiu Rom was set up by Ethan Hawke's mother (a former volunteer) to help get impoverished children into Kindergarden and then keep them in school. It is a worth while cause as I have seen myself the difficulties in convincing not only young children, but older ones as well that school is really in their best interest.
As a special fundraising event Ovidiu Rom puts on a Halloween Ball. This was the 6th such event and it was held at the Parlimentary Palace. Needless to say the chance to spend a large amount of time in a beautiful place like that was hard to pass up. I had originally planned on spending thursday through sunday helping but was told I would only be needed Friday and Saturday. So, thursday night my friend and I got on an overnight train to bucharest, passed out, and woke up to a delicious Big Mac Meal. After spending a few hours at the Peace Corps office we had plenty of time to kill before the volunteer meeting at the palace at 7pm. After finding our hostel (not without some difficulty and by means not condusive to expediency) we sat at a terasa and thought of what we could possibly due for a day in Bucharest... of course the answer came quickly with the sound of screeching brakes... Ride random buses.
The bus system is as such that there is little need for a ticket. I would say only one out of every 20 rides will there be a "controller" on the bus to make sure you have one. It is an accepted practice to skip out on such frivolities as a ticket... However since our experience in Timisoara proved that controlers do exist we bought tickets anyway and rode the bus til we saw something familiar. Got off, and got on another bus that took us out to the Arc de Triumph ala Bucharest. Something I had only seen from buses and taxis before that day. The Results of this trip may be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/11082036755
There are a few things you tend to notice when riding around on a bus... one of which is that personal space is of no concern to the person next to you. The other is that there is ALWAYS more room on the bus even if you have to stand with one leg propped up against the window. The third is that, brakeing, is always the last resort for the driver, even at red lights.
The day was great. The park was beautiful and the volunteer meeting went off without a hitch. At one O'clock the next day We showed up to continue our volunteering and were put to work pretty quickly. Anytime something needed to be carried we were shown the way to help them. I guess we looked like guys who could carry things. Then, we were given our own special assignment... watch the wine. Yes make sure no one steals the wine before the guests show up... When the guests did start to show up it turned out we had the best seats in the house. Standing at a table exhibiting the door prizes. We saw celebrities, and rich people, and dignitaries, and Elvis, yes Elvis, and our boss, our ambassador, the Canadian Ambassador and of course Nicholas Cage, the guest of honor.
Nicholas Cage is in Romania shooting the Sequal to Ghost Rider, why they would make another one I have no idea, however there he was right there in real life with Jet black hair holding his son, sprinting by the press. Quite a sight to see, especially with a fellow peace corps volunteer trying to push the press out of the way. All in all the event raised 500,000 Euros to help put kids in school. For more information about that night check this out: http://www.bucharestherald.ro/dailyeven
or here: http://www.halloween.ovid.ro/
Hopefully later this week I will have another post for you. Stay Tuned... Space Ghost Out!
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